Saturday, June 18, 2016

DESTINATION: Palo Duro Canyon State Park, Texas (Revisited)

"Go west young man, go west!" And, that's just what we did on our next adventure! Our first stop was Palo Duro Canyon State Park located in the Texas Panhandle. Although we have both been in the canyon many times this was the first time to bring our travel trailer. Unfortunately, the Texas Panhandle was experiencing a heat way that made it 10 degrees hotter in the canyon than at the rim. When we made our way to the bottom of the canyon the thermometer in the truck registered a scorching 105 degrees! The first thing we did was crank up the AC in the trailer and let it run while we setup camp. It wasn't long before we gave up on the "setting up camp" idea and chose to leave the trailer hitched to the truck.

Campsites dwarfed by the canyon walls

After the sun started going down we ventured out to take a few pictures of the canyon's rugged beauty and to find a very necessary geocache for the Texas State Park Geocaching Challenge!

Life appeared in the canyon at sunset

We spotted this geocaching friend enjoying dinner near GZ

Dinner that night leftover pizza we enjoyed at lunch and a bagged salad. All was eaten from the comfort of our air conditioned trailer as we watched the moon come up from behind the rocks.

Evening hikers

Late in the evening Gman setup his telescope. We were both in aye of the clarity of the near-full moon accompanied by Jupiter and Mars. The next morning we were greeted with a humid, cloudy sky that left the canyon gloomy and lifeless.

Morning in the canyon

We had no regrets saying goodbye to the canyon and pointing our "wagon" west towards Colorado Springs!